Revival
by Malz main
Summary: After the extinctions of humans, one is brought back.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: i do not own splatoon, i see other people do this so I'll do it to.

Revival

Chapter 1

"Does today have to be the day we release the subject? We can't be too sure, we should wait until we're sure that we ca-"

"Nonsense, Maya. The tests came in and the results were high, there's a low chance of anything going wrong," Steph said. He was a little different than your average inkling. He was older, so his features were more mature, his green tentacles were fashioned in a more professional manner of that befitting a scientist, stood a bit taller than most, and wore a lab coat like the others in the room. He motioned to commence the project.

"But Steph," said Maya, "What if there was a mistake? We need to be careful, it took more than a year to grow and nurture him. We should take extra caution and wait patiently."

"That's enough, Maya. Computers do not lie, the results are in and it should be fine… and don't call it a larva... Its name is Subject H1, it's merely a test subject and nothing more. If's its not ready now we can always try again until it is."

"Again?" Maya walked up to Steph and placed her arms on his shoulders and shook him violently, "We can't possibly risk its its life just because you're eager to have results which you'd deem an expendable resource. We have to be careful!"

"Look, you have nothing to worry about, it will be fine!" Steph steadied himself from being shaken, "It's been restored enough to be able to survive if we wake it up, and besides…" Steph sighed and silently removed her hands from his shoulder, "...You shouldn't let your emotions get in the way of our experiments," His eyes narrowed he spoke, "It's unprofessional. If it weren't for your genius we wouldn't tolerate such behavior.

"Seadney! Don't you agree with me? Isn't it too early to wake him up? We should let him get up on his own!"

Seadney let out a simple sigh, flicking her head to the side and shaking it slowly, her pink tentacles waving as she did so. She was also eager to awaken the subject but she was also patient. She did not want to rush this and face failure. They had put a lot of time and money into this and wanted good results. "I agree with Maya, It's best if we let him wake up on his own."

Julinka stood by on the sidelines watching the three of them argue. Well, Maya and Steph anyway. She wasn't sure if she wanted to awaken the living fossil, but like the others, she was eager. When Steph had motioned for her to flip the switch to drain the container the subject was in, Maya paused long enough to call Steph out on his eagerness. She was always up-front and assertive, and never backed down. She waited for them to come to a consensus before flipping the drain.

Steph was visibly annoyed. He wanted to proceed ahead of schedule and awaken the subject; why were the others so determined to slow this breakthrough? He had run all the tests and checked over them twice just to be sure, and it had a ninety-eight percent of waking up normally. Just a small margin of failure, it was next to nothing! It was going to fine, and any damage could be repaired… mostly.

"What if it wakes up when we're not around, though? It'll probably just freak out," Steph didn't want to wait any longer, now was the time! This would make history!

"He's a person you know…" Maya said dejectedly. She didn't understand why Steph could not see him as a person and nothing more than a test sample. The data shows that his race can form coherent thoughts and have sapience. Their entire race did gain their technology from his kind after all

"Wait, hold on! I think he's waking up right now!" Steph said with vigor as soon as he noticed it's eyes open slightly. He motioned again for Julinka to flip the switch. He was annoyed with her but his eagerness for the subject awakening made him forget all about it.

As soon as Julinka flipped the switch she joined the other three who were up close examining the fruits of their labor. The poor thing looked confused and tired, it probably didn't even know it existed at this point, let alone any self awareness of its surroundings. But that would all change soon, given enough time it would be able to move around and talk like any other person.

Steph was grinning in anticipation and excitement, all that hard work, those months of slowly watching the equivalent of what was basically a embryo grow to the size of a normal Inkling, but you know, with a fossil. Looking up close he realized that the subject wasn't all that impressive in terms of looks but what it was is what made him valuable. Many like him walked the planet a millennia ago, the idea of having one walk around as a servant or pet seemed fitting. Seeing as how they all died off, what an inferior race, if it wasn't for their technology they would have been almost completely useless and wouldn't have been worth his time and genius into recreating one.

Seadney studied the H1 subject closely, calling it that would get old, so she decided she would call it by what Maya named him. What was it again? Ahhh that's right, she named him after a Larva. That name was better fit for a insect, we'll have to do better than that. He was a weird looking thing, he had strange eyes, strange fur on top of his head, strange everything, on top of that bones underneath all that flesh. If he was dressed properly and given some make up, he could pass off as cute, but without a doubt some weirdos out there will be into him just the way he is.

Maya was bursting with energy! This was it, her magnum opus, the mark that she would leave on the world. This is what the masses will remember her for! Her contribution to society, a fully intact living fossil! The poor little thing is shivering though, we should get him some clothes, but first we'd have to measure him… not to mention trim that little patch of fur on his head, but in her honest opinion he was fine just the way he was! There was so much to do, so much to raise this _child_ of hers, yes. So much to do! Seeing how the other 3 were still shock and in awe of his very presence she decided she would make first contact. She wanted to leave a good impression and wanted to be trusted and held as someone close by him, perhaps even a mother figure!

"Rise and shine!" said Maya as she neared him "Come on, seize the day! Carpe diem!"

Everything is black. I'm not moving. I'm not breathing. I don't need to move. I don't need to breathe. I'm in a void. I open my eyes and see everything is a blur. I can't make out shapes, but I can see the colours just about clearly. Everything is white, for the most part, with four blobs of colours; one blue, one orange, one green, and another pink. I hear a sound below me; a draining sound. I suddenly feel exposed at the tip of my head. The feeling flows down my body until I feel completely exposed. I suddenly fall down, only for a moment, before I stop. Everything's still blurry. I hear voices, but they're only coming through in waves. My vision darkens until everything is black.

-dashes and shit-

"Isn't it too early to wake him up? We should let him get up on his own," A voice I don't know.

"I agree with Maya. It's best if we let him wake up on his own," Another unfamiliar voice.

"What if it wakes up when we're not around, though? It'll probably just freak out." Someone else I don't know.

"He's a person, you know..." Another voice. Just who are these people?

"Wait, hold on! I think it's waking up right now!"

My eyelids slowly drag upwards, until I can see a white ceiling. White fluorescent lights blind me as I squint.

"Rise and shine!" I hear a girl giggle. I roll my head to the side and see a lab coat. The person wearing it bends down so that her face is only a few inches from mine, "Come on, seize the day! Carpe diem!" She puts an unusual amount of stress on the "carp" in "carpe diem."

"Who are you?" I ask her.

"No, the more important question..." I heard someone speak, and turned my head to see a tall man in a lab coat limbering above me. His skin is dark and eyes are green, just like his hair, and he looks at me with cold, solid eyes, "...Is who are _you_?"

I think about this question. I sit there for a while, maybe too long, and finally respond, "Where am I?"

"He needs some re-" I hear someone else speak before the green-haired man raises his hand to motion her to be silent.

"Look around," he says.

I do. My eyes slowly gaze around the room. On one side of the room, I see a few buzzing computers wired up to each other. On the other, there's a couch next to a window. The shutters are closed, so I can't see outside, but I can hear some people and cars faintly. As I look down, I see that I'm sitting upright in a bed, with long, thin tubes attached to my arms.

"Is this… a hospital?" I say weakly. A blue-haired woman, dressed similarly to the green-haired man, quickly takes a pen and scribbles something down on her clipboard. I ask once again, "Is that where I am? Was there an accident?"

The green-haired man smiles, "Success."

"What?" I say, confused. The green-haired man starts to get excited; a bit wild, even. He grabs the shoulders of a pink-haired girl standing next to him and shakes her.

" _Success! Eureka! We've done it, ladies, we've done it!_ " He rushes to an orange-haired woman and hugs her, and she hugs him back tightly. The pink-haired girl smiles and claps to herself. I'm stunned.

"Okay," I say, laughing, "Uh… what have we done?" The green-haired man doesn't seem to have heard me at all.

"Tests! Tests, right, we need to run some-" He starts excitedly, but is interrupted by the orange-haired woman.

"Steph, calm down!" She says firmly, "He's clearly confused, can't you see? He was just brought into this world; we need to give him some time to ease into it." The blue-haired woman nods in response. The green-haired man, evidently named "Steph," calms himself down.

"Right, right..." He takes some deep breaths for some time, before exhaling sharply, "Okay. Do you remember your name?"

"My name?" I think for a few seconds. I have a name, don't I? I can't seem to remember if I do. Come to think of it, I don't remember anything at all. Who am I? Where am I from? Why am I even here? "Um… I actually don't know anything."

Steph nods as the blue-haired woman writes something down on her clipboard. "Right, then..." he starts, "...We'll start with introductions. My name is Stephanlopod Oceana."

"Stephalo-" I start.

"Just call me 'Steph,' please."

"Oh, right, Steph."

The orange-haired woman steps forth. She's tall, but not much taller than Steph. In fact, the two seem to be at about the same height. She's a bit on the plump side, but considering her features, the physique actually suits her well. She smiles at me warmly, in a motherly way, almost. Just seeing her makes me feel happy.

"My name is Mayangler Oceana," She says warmly. She extends her hand, and for a moment I hesitate, slowly reaching forward and accepting her palm. It feels strange, a little soft and a bit colder than mine. The texture makes her fingers feel almost like tentacles. I stare up at her and she smiles back at me, "Nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mayangler…" I respond shyly.

"Please, call me Maya. If there's anything you need, just ask me," She pats my head as she steps away.

The next one to talk is the blue-haired woman. As she steps forward, I immediately feel a formality in her presence. Her physique doesn't help at all, either. She has at least a foot on both Steph and Maya, and as I look down at her feet, I see that she's not even wearing heels. She has an almost perfect hourglass figure, and her face is so cold that it makes me shiver a bit.

"My name is Seadney Caspian, It's a pleasure to meet you," She says, "I hope we can get along well. That is if you want to, I have all kinds of fun toys to make you play along."

I start to shiver at what she might mean by that. Her cold smirk doesn't help at all.

"Stop it! You're scaring him" Maya scolds her. Seadney only looks down at her clipboard, scanning over her notes.

The pink-haired girl, who seems to be much younger than everyone else, steps forward. Her skin is dark, but a little bit lighter than Steph's. I notice her face is the same one which greeted me when I first woke up. She stands quite a bit shorter then the others, her features aren't as refined, and her head is more round. Her eyes are more youthful compared to the others, and look lively and full of emotion. I realize I'm staring and turn my eyes away. I hear a giggle and bring my eyes back so that she's in my view. She smiles brightly, and I can almost feel the optimism bubbling out of her.

"Hiya!" She says, beaming at me, "My name's Julinka! Julinka Oceana!"

"Oh, n-nice to meet you." I reach out and she shakes my hand joyfully, giggling. Julinka? That's a bit of an odd name. Did she mean to say "Julia?"

"Well, then, with introductions out of the way..." Steph starts as Seadney hands her clipboard to him, "...I suppose we should learn about you, first."

"Me?" I say.

"Yes," He continues, "Now, do you remember anything from before you woke up?"

"Um..." I stop to think. I'm sure I must have at least been up to something recently, but despite all efforts, I can't seem to remember a thing. "...Not at all," I answer.

Steph nods and writes something down, "How about a name? Do you have a name?"

"A name?" Well, yes, of course I should have one. What is it, though? I rack my brain once again, and come back empty-handed, "I… I guess not."

The notion of not having a name is pretty dumb, once I think about it. I'm certain I should have one, but I have no idea why I don't.

"Well, you know what that means!" Maya chimes in.

Julinka giggles in response, "Time to name him!"

Name me? Well, it should only make sense, since I don't have a name already. Maya drops a stack of papers, all stapled together, on my lap.

"That right there is a list of some names for you to choose from!" She says.

"All this?" I say, flipping through the packet and looking through the seemingly endless names. I try searching for a name, but realize that I can't understand any of the text. It's in an entirely different language.

"I, um…"

"Those are the ones that are written in its language, right?" Steph asks.

"His!" Says Maya, lightly slapping his chest, "Er, also... no. Well, we can always go with the one I chose."

Steph lets out a sigh, "This was your plan all along, wasn't it? So you could name it whatever you wanted to?"

He said that word again: "It." Why does he keep calling me that? Did I do something wrong to somehow offend him?

"He's not some creature, Steph!" Maya insists. Steph is about to retort, but Julinka interrupts before he has the chance,

"Guys, stop it! Just name him already!" She looks away in a huff, "To think I'm related to a couple who argues all the time..."

"Watch it, young lady," Steph scolds as he taps her head with his clipboard, "Is that any way to talk about your parents?"

I stop listening to their idle chatter. "Creature." Am I a creature? Am I unnatural? I grip my palms; they feel different from the others' hands. Both Maya and Julinka had a different feeling, a soft, wet, feeling, almost like a salamander. When I touch my own hands, it's different. They're warm, with a sort of rough, dry texture.

As I watch them argue, not listening to their words at all, I start to notice something odd about their hair. I pinch a tuft of my own hair, rubbing the strands between my fingers. My head is full of actual hair, but theirs is different. I hadn't noticed it before through the rushed introductions, but their hair wasn't actually hair. After taking a second glance, I saw that what they had covering their scalps were… tentacles.

Throughout all of my thinking, I hadn't realized that Seadney had come up next to me. The tapping of her pen as it hastily scribbles on her clipboard suddenly calls her to my attention. After a few seconds, she turns to the others and clears her throat.

"Will you three stop your bickering and take a look?" They stop at once and look at me. The room falls silent. I look back at them, not knowing what to say.

"Hey, are you ok? Can't decide on a name?" Julinka says, completely failing to read the mood.

"N-no, it... it's just that, um…" I stutter. I don't know why, but I feel nervous for some reason. I look at Julinka as she smiles at me. Her teeth bared, I see that she has three sharp teeth; two canines on the top row, and one right in the middle of the bottom row. They look perfectly suitable for ripping apart meat. I shiver in fear, suddenly realizing that I don't know anything about these people or what they want to do to me.

"Well, I um…" My voice trails off.

"Out with it," Steph says impatiently.

"Is everything okay? I'm starting to think this is about more than just deciding a name," Julinka inches closer to me.

"P-please don't get near me..." I peep.

"O-oh. Okay, I'm sorry," she frowns.

Maya stands silently, her orange eyes piercing mine. After what feels like an eternity, she breaks the silence between us,

"Oh its okay, my little larva! There's nothing to be afraid of." Before I know it, her arms are wrapped around me. She smothers me into her chest, and for a moment I feel embarrassed. At first, I don't know what to do. I try to pull away, but something about her embrace only wants me to stay in this moment for even longer. I awkwardly start to put my arms around her to return the favor, but my fear of the unknown holds me back. Is this just some way to keep me from thinking that they want to do anything bad to me? Does she even care about me at all?

"Um…" I want to ask them what they're going to do to me, but I hesitate at first. I take a deep breath and loudly blurt out, "What am I doing here and when do I go home?"

I noticed Julinka and Maya exchange strange glances towards another. "Let's… not talk about that right now," Julinka says, smiling awkwardly.

"But what about my fam-"

"Oh, that's right! Your name!" Maya cut me off.

"Yeah, we still haven't decided what you'll call yourself," Julinka cut in quickly, "Here, I'll help you decide."

"I… can't read any of this," I tell her uncomfortably, "Well… I guess it's sort of readable, but I only recognize a few characters..."

Julinka presses her neck on my shoulder to get a better view, leaning in too close for comfort. I shudder as I feel her "hair" touch my cheek. It's slimy and wet, but most uncomfortable of all is its warmth. Is the "hair" a part of their actual body?

"How about… this one?" Her finger glides through the air in front of me and swiftly lands on a series of scribbles. I don't recognize the characters, so I ask her what it says.

"Inkless," she responds.

"Inkless?" I blurt, and Maya happens to say it at the same time.

"Isn't that a bit of an insult?" Maya asks.

"Hmm… It is accurate," Julinka responds, "What do you think?"

"Why 'Inkless?'" I ask.

"Well, you know, since you're not an inkli-" She stops suddenly, seeming lost in thought for a moment. She continues talking after a brief silence, "A-actually, maybe something else..."

"Synthesis," Seadney says quickly, "It'll be temporary, just until we can decide on something for sure."

"I can't argue with that," Steph says, "If we decide its- _his_ name right away, we'd probably be here all day and come up with something unsatisfactory."

"Well, that's kind of deinklinizing, don't you think?" Julinka says.

"Deinklinizing?" I think to myself, "What does that even mean?"

"Well, first of all, in his case, it would be 'dehumanizing...'" Maya admits, "...Second of all, Steph does have a point. If we decide right now, it'll probably be something… lacking."

Julinka finally pulls away from me. She looks at me as she says, "Well… I guess we'll stick with it for now."

"Regardless, we should still keep brainstorming some ideas," Maya says, nodding.

"Well, now that we have your name down… Well, for now, at least..." Steph starts, "I guess we'll start with the tests."

"Not just yet," Maya interrupts, causing a mild, impatient groan to come from Steph, "He's not just here to answer our questions. I think we owe him a few explanations."

"I agree with Maya," Seadney admits, "If we want him to perform well, we should at least make sure he's psychologically fit. We want to make sure he knows that he's in a safe environment."

"Hey, I'm right here," I say half-jokingly.

Maya gently puts her hand on my head, "Well, what do you have to ask us?"

"Um..." I hesitate.

"It's okay, you can ask me anything at all."

"Well..." I stop, afraid that I might offend her with my first question. She's probably one of my caretakers, probably, so I don't want her to think too little of me. Regardless, I take her previous words into mind and ask, point-blank, "What are you people?"

Silence.

Did I strike a nerve? I start to feel nervous.

"Well, it makes sense that you'd ask us," Maya says, sitting beside me on the bed, "We call ourselves 'Inklings.' We evolved from squids, and you can actually notice that we have a lot of squid-like features, compared to you. You've probably already noticed our hair, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I have."

"On top of that, our skin is similar to that of our ancestors," she explains, "And on top of that, we can actually turn into squids."

The last part catches me completely off-guard. I echo her words just to make sure I heard them correctly, "You can turn into squids?"

"Well, yes, we can."

"No way. Can I see it?"

"Oh, well-"

"I'll do it for you!" Julinka butts in. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a container full of pink liquid. She splashes some of it on the ground before jumping up. At the peak of her height, she quickly shrinks and turns into a pink squid, about half of her original size. She falls right into the ink, swimming in a circle around the small puddle as if it were at least a few feet deep. She resurfaces and jumps high up, turning back into her humanoid figure at the peak of her jump. She bows as she lands, and I can't help but give a small applause.

"That's amazing!" I praise.

"Well, hardly, I do it all the time..." Julinka says, blushing. Through her act, I forgot about my next question, but as soon as the moment is over, I remembered what I had to ask.

"Well, I do have another important question. What am I doing here?"

The group exchanges glances, mostly between Steph, Maya, and Julinka, as Seadney is busy writing in her clipboard.

"Fine, I'll tell him," Steph steps forward, "We're here to experiment on you."

I'm taken aback by this. What kind of experiments is he talking about? From the looks that they kept giving each other, it couldn't be anything pleasant. Steph seems to read my mind as he gives his response.

"Granted, it's nothing that you should be worried about; just some simple physical and mental tests to know about you and… your species."

"My species?"

"Yes, your species. You see, we've been collecting data from ancient civilizations; some that have existed long before our time..." He seems hesitant in his speech, as if he's carefully wording what he has to say, "...and those civilizations have been built by a certain species. Your species, actually. And, well, you see..." He sighs, "I don't see a point in keeping you from knowing. Synthesis… You've been dead for fifty million years."

I almost laugh. Dead for fifty million years? That has to be a joke. As I look around at everyone else, though, I see that Steph is dead serious.

"Furthermore… You and your entire species has been extinct for fifty million years," Steph finishes.

"Ha-ha, okay," I say. "Come on, what am I really doing here?"

"I believe Stephanlopod just said that," Seadney says bluntly. I quickly look at her, and she looks back at me. Her expression is dead serious… Well, maybe a bit more on the "dead" side. She looks at me, holding her blank expression. We stare at each other for some time before Maya breaks the silence.

"It's not a lie," she says, and nothing more. Those four words are almost enough to convince me. I look around the room, shooting glances and nervous laughter before I finally give in.

"You're serious," I finally say.

"We brought you back through… Well, not really through resurrection, but something simi-"

I interrupt Steph halfway through his sentence, "What killed us?"

"You- I'm sorry, what?" Steph says.

"How did my species die?" I ask. Steph sighs and sits down in a chair by a desk covered in papers.

"Synthesis, we've been researching your species for decades; almost an entire century now, in fact. Not just us, but Inkling scientists as a whole. We believe we've learned almost everything but that… Funny enough, that's the only thing we don't have a clue about. We've learned that your species was widespread across the planet and faced many challenges, especially towards the end of your existence. It's hard to pinpoint what it exactly was, or if it was even just one cause in the first place."

I can't believe it. The rest of my kind is entirely gone. If they are, though… "How am I even alive?" I ask Steph.

He nods, "That's what I was getting to before. It's a complicated process, but it involves using the remains of someone and using their DNA to bring back a revived version of themselves. Since DNA doesn't last forever, we had to use the youngest remains that we could find, and we needed DNA from other species in order to bridge the gaps."

"So I'm not really me, am I?"

"Erm… No. Most of the remains that we find are fossilized, but yours… Yours were different. You weren't actually fossilized, otherwise your statement would be completely true. Rather, you were naturally mummified. Your body was preserved through natural causes. In fact, we found your body in a glacier."

"A glacier?"

"Yes. We actually had been going through the process of 'revived fossils' for quite some time, until you came along. When we found your body, preserved, we knew that you were perfect for what we were looking for. What we weren't sure about were the lasting effects. We weren't sure if you would be completely mobile, or even mentally functional. Luckily for us, however..." He gestures towards me in a motion as if he were introducing me to an audience, "...Here you are. Granted, you may have some physical impairments; we'll need to take some tests to be sure."

I'm still not sure how to take this news.

"Is everything alright?" Maya says, rubbing my thigh comfortingly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, it's just… This is all happening so fast," I say. My head is swimming with thoughts. Everyone of my kind is dead. People I knew, but can't remember. I can't remember anything, in fact. Steph said that I may be physically impaired in some way. What if I am? What if I'll have trouble doing everyday tasks because of it? No, forget the impairment, what if I can't get around because I'm human? What if the Inklings hate me?

I suddenly feel a warmth on my cheek. I come back to reality and see Maya, her arm outstretched to touch my face. Her face is concerned, and mine mirrors hers. Just seeing her worry about me leads me to worry about myself. Her voice brings me back once again before I drift off into a sea of worries,

"Are you okay, Synthesis?" She says. I hate that word. I hate that name. I don't even know what it means, but I hate it. Maya's thumb moves gently, stroking my cheek. "You need some rest."

"I… I think I do," I admit.

Maya looks to everyone else, "I think we should leave."

"Wait!" I blurt out. She looks at me. "Um… I don't want to be alone."

She smiles at me, "Okay. I'll stay here."

Those few words make me feel so much more comfortable. I smile back at her as everyone else files out of the room. I close my eyes and hear a click. Shortly afterwards, I'm fast asleep. Maya pulled up a chair as she watched Synth fall asleep.

"What an intriguing little creature you are, i just can't wait to see you blossom."

-AuthorsNotes-

Hi. So me and my co author "Toxink" decided to write this story on a whim, you can find him on wattpad. If anyone reads this which i doubt, i hope you enjoyed it. If you'd be so kind to leave a review with tips it'd be much appreciated. This is also my first story btw. Bye.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

Inside a room, a pair of scientists stared at a small screen, one examining the subject, the other jotting down notes on its sleeping patterns. "Sir, Synthesis has awakened" Seadney said as she was monitoring the camera feed. "Shall we proceed as scheduled and retrieve him?"

"Not yet, as much as it pains me, we should wait for Maya and Juli to arrive. They should be here when it is retrieved."

And just on cue, Maya and Juli appeared, one seemingly exhausted and the other none the worse for the wear. "Darn it, why do I have to wake up so early! Can't a girl get her beauty sleep once in a while?" Juli said, bringing a palm to her face and rubbing her eyes.

"Now Juli, you shouldn't be complaining so much, you did decide to stay up late to watch those idols chat with one another."

Juli raised a finger as if to justify her late night decision but couldn't find one "Ehh, i don't regret it, they're pretty cool anyway"

Turning his attention to Maya, Steph said "Good morning honey, I trust you slept well"

"Yep! Like a log, haven't slept that well in a while. Speaking of which, how is Synth? He didn't wake up in the middle of the night and noticed I was gone did he?"

"Not at all, he's waking up right now actually, so if he's going to panic from your absence he should be doing so shortly" He chuckled a bit at the end there.

"What? Oh no!" Maya sputtered out as she zoomed past a bewildered Steph to get a first hand look at the camera monitor. "Say, we should send for him soon, we ought to let him know of his surroundings-"

"And to test his physical feats. We need more data on what he should be able to do, it's obvious he won't be able to transform or move quickly like a normal person, but we should be sure of his limits."

"Right we should also- wait… are you even listening..?" He looked to Maya who was chatting with Seadney, most likely about Synthesis. With an exasperated sigh, he facepalmed "At least my daughter is…" He stopped mid sentence once he saw Juli dozing off and lightly snoring in one of the seats.

"Alright everyone" he spoke loud enough to wake Juli from her snooze and to gain the attention of the others. "Since we are all here, i think it's time we proceed with schedule. Juli, go and bring him here." Maya smiled at that last sentence. "But go wash your face first, i will not tolerate such behavior in the workplace"

After splashing some water on her face to wake herself up she left for the door but as she made for the hallway, Steph grabbed her shoulder leading to her giving off a small yelp.

"Julinka"

"Uhh, yes Dad?" She noted that he called her by her full name, addressing her as a colleague.

"When around **it,** I want you to treat the subject with respect, make it bond to you. Once it has complete trust of you, you'll be able to get it to do what is expected of it."

Juli, now visibly confused as to his order, asked "But why? Wouldn't it make more sense to let him gain that trust naturally, forcing it would leave a bad taste in my mouth…"

"Nonsense, if it feels close to you, it'll naturally try to keep up with what you expect of it. He'll have no one to rely on but you… or your mother. She seems unusually attached to it. Now go, were on a schedule."

"Yes sir" And with that she proceeded to down the corridors.

I slowly come to once again. My eyes open groggily and I blink to clear my vision. A soft orange light creeps into the room from the window, where the shades are slanted to let in just enough light. As I look around the room once again, I see that Maya is gone. She must have left to do some research with the others.

My eyes wander around the room, scanning every nook and cranny, trying to read every stray document left on any of the tables, and going across titles of books that rest on a bookshelf on the other side of the room.

"Ironic," I think to myself, "I'd think that's what they'd put right next to me to keep me from getting bored."

I'm getting bored, and I've only just woken up. I lay back and rest my head on the pillow, which has been elevated to let me sit a little upright. As I lay back, I think about what Steph said earlier; me being dead, my whole species being dead,and coming from a civilization that existed millions of years ago… Despite how everyone's emotions seemed to confirm this, I still have a rough time being able to wrap my mind around it. I shake my head lightly.

"No, I just need to get myself situated," I think to myself. Supposing it's true, I just woke up from a million-year slumber. It must definitely have to take some time to get myself up and running again. Even then, I might not be in a good condition, like Steph said.

Oh, to Hell with what Steph said. I'm thinking too much about this. I look around the room again in some sort of wild hope that it would make me stop thinking. My eyes soon land on a panel to my right. On the armrest of my bed sits an odd plastic device with buttons on it. After looking up at the wall across from me to see a TV, I realize it's a remote control. Well, if it'll help me get my mind off of things…

I press a few buttons on the remote until the TV flickers on. On the TV, it looks like some sort of talk show is on. Two people- No, two Inklings are sitting across from each other. The inkling on the left is short and has very pale skin. Her "hair" is white and goes pink towards the ends. She also has a white crown with pink tips on it. The girl on the right, sitting across from her, has dark skin. Her hair is a dark purple, almost black, but turns to a neon turquoise colour at the ends. Her hair-tentacles also seem to move on their own somehow.

As soon as they start talking, I realize that I have no idea what they could possibly be saying. Their words all seem to be a collection of gargles and bubbling sounds, and I can't even make out any seperate words. Well, of course, I wouldn't be able to understand their language; this is a civilization that came millions of years after I lived. It only makes sense that it would be completely different to what I know. I fiddle with the remote as I switch from channel to channel, in hopes that I'll at least find some show or movie with little to no dialogue in it.

After what seems like an eternity of channel flipping, I get tired of searching and eventually give up. After pressing a few buttons and figuring out how to turn the TV off, I go back to doing nothing but thinking. I stare at the white ceiling, wondering how I would be able to function in this kind of world. How would I be able to understand the language of these people? Come to think of it, how did they understand my language? While it seems that the inklings have their own language, they still knew how to speak in mine.

I'm taken out of my thoughts as I hear a knocking at the door. There's a small beep on the other side, and the door soon swings open. The pink-haired girl walks through the doorway, smiling as she enters the room.

"Good morning! Remember me?" She says chipperly. My response isn't as enthusiastic.

"Um… Good morning..." I mumble, "Who… Who're you again…?"

"It's Julinka, remember? I hope you're all rested for today," She says, "We're going to start doing some simple exercises to see if you're in good shape."

"Good shape… Right..." My memory flashes back to when Steph told me that he found me in an iceberg. If I was in one of those for so long, it's a miracle that I'd be in any good shape at all.

"The others are waiting for you outside this room and down the hallway. We'll start by getting you out of bed," Julinka suddenly throws the covers off of me. I shiver from being exposed to the cold air all at once. "Ooh, your heart jumped a bit on that one," Julinka says as she looks at a monitor. It's displaying a series of green lines that move up and down. It seems familiar to me, but I can't quite figure out what it is or where I've seen it before.

"Okay, let's just get you unhooked here..." Julinka reaches for my arms. She carefully pulls out the tubes attached to them. It's a slow process, and a bit painful. I wince every time she pulls one out, and once she's done she rubs my hands gently.

"Almost there," she says. She pulls off some white disks from my chest and then moves to the other side of the bed to turn off a few machines next to me. She then leans toward me and says, "Try to sit up."

I try, and it turns out I'm a lot clumsier than I thought I'd be. After taking a few seconds to figure out which muscles to move, I slowly jerk up from the bed and plop back down.

"A little help, please?" I chuckle lightly. Julinka giggles, smiling, and reaches out to take my hand. She slowly pulls me up until I'm sitting upright. She lets go of my hand, and I fall back a bit before she catches me.

"Try sitting up from here," She tells me, "Slowly."

I try sitting up again, and eventually find myself upright after a few seconds. I hear her clapping quietly, and turn my head to see her smiling at me. It feels weird, seeing someone be happy that I managed to do something so mundane. I'm lost in her smile for the short moment that she claps, then my trance is soon broken by her saying,

"Okay, now try turning towards me." This one takes more time, since turning around is difficult for me to figure out. It takes a lot of coordination for me, and I end up falling onto the bed a number of times. After a minute and some much-needed help from Julinka, I find myself sitting on the bed with my calves hanging over the edge. Julinka reaches beside her to pull up a box-like object (a "walker," she calls it) up to me. She helps me stay on the bed as I reach out and get a firm grasp on the sides of the walker.

"On the count of three, slide off the bed and try your best to land on your legs," She says as she puts her hands on my chest to keep me up, "Ready?" I nod. "One… Two… Three!"

After she gets to three, I find myself still on the bed, afraid to get off.

"Come on, Synthesis. If you don't get out of bed, you won't be able to do anything all day. I'll count again, okay?" I start to nod, but still remain hesitant.

"One… Two..." She's only halfway into saying "Three" once I've pushed myself off the bed. I stumble forward onto Julinka, and for a moment I think that I'm going to fall over and knock her down under me. She stumbles back, too, as I land on top of her, but she firmly manages to keep me from toppling her over. She gently pushes me back so that I'm standing up, despite still relying on the walker just to keep myself up. She guides me towards the doorway that leads out of the room, and I stumble as I go along. Walking is no easy feat, but after taking the time to wake up my muscles by getting out of bed, I can manage to mostly support my weight.

I stagger towards the door, which Julinka holds open for me. Passing through the doorway is difficult without her help, but I manage to get through. She closes the door behind her as she exits after me. Now that I'm in the hallway, finally somewhere new besides the hospital-like room, I take a look around to absorb my surroundings. The hallway is actually mostly barren; nothing but white walls and rows of doors along them. The hallway isn't incredibly long, but given my current state, it'll be a pain just to get to one end of the hall. One end of the hallway leads to two framed metal plates that seem almost familiar to me. On the other end is a window. I can't see much from where I'm standing, but looking out, there seems to be nothing but blue behind it. I'm eager to get a closer look, but Julinka tugs me toward the metal plates before I can head to the window.

"Everyone else is waiting for you just a few floors down," She says to me, "Do you remember the other three people you met?"

"I think so," I reply, but my mind is still hazy. I remember Steph and I recall the other women, but I can't remember their names.

"Well, I hope you're excited to meet them again," she says as she guides me towards the metal plates, "They're all excited to see you up and out of bed."

The walk to the metal plates is a bit tedious, but after a while I manage to get the hang of walking. The closer I get to the metal plates, the easier walking gets for me. Once we reach the metal plates, Julinka presses a black button next to them. The button has an arrow pointing downwards, and is just below another button which points upwards. After a few moments, the metal plates suddenly slide open to reveal a small room with a mirror. I'm taken aback by this, and Julinka seems to notice.

"I guess you've never been in an elevator before, huh?" she asks me.

"A what? A… I think I've heard of one..." I say. Julinka laughs and pats my head.

"No need to be so flustered, Synth!" She says as she smiles at me. For some reason, I feel like I should be hurt, but I'm really not. Actually, I'm more wrapped up in feeling her hand as she gently rubs my head. She then leads me into the elevator and presses a black button among a large selection of them. I suddenly feel a jolt.

"The elevator's going down," Julinka assures me. I nod and wait. As I wait, I look at myself in the mirror inside the elevator. I haven't seen my reflection before, or at least I don't recall seeing it at all. However, it still seems perfectly familiar. I look at myself and immediately recognize my own face.

Right away, I notice how pale my face is. Compared to the other inklings I've met, my face is paper-white. My eyes are brown, which I recognize right away, and my hair is black. It's a lot shorter than the other inklings, and it barely even goes halfway down my neck. I reach up to twist a few strands of hair between my fingers. Sure enough, my hair is completely different than the inklings; a quick look at Julinka confirms that they just have tentacles on their heads. Looking at my reflection, though, there is one thing I feel like I should remember. Something that's tugging at the back of my mind, but I can't quite-

Ding!

The elevator stops, and I stumble a bit as the ground shakes beneath me. I turn away from the mirror just as the metal doors slide open to reveal a large room filled with large contraptions. Julinka leads me out of the elevator, and as I step out, I'm able to get a better view of everything in the room.

The room is enormous; much, much bigger than the small hospital room where I was situated before. It's filled with huge machines and contraptions, and there are shelves lined with bins, each with labels on them, which I of course can't read. Julinka leads me through the room, twisting around and between machinery until we come to a door with a glass window. As she reaches into her pocket to search for something, I look through the window.

The room on the other side is large, although much smaller than the one with the machines. The walls are white and the floor is tiled in different colours, ranging from pink to blue to purple. There are some machines in this room, as well, although they look very different from the machines outside. I recognise a few of them, such as a stationary bicycle and some sort of weightlifting device. A few I don't, however, such as something that appears to be a moving platform. The platform doesn't seem to go anywhere, so I suppose it's for exercise.

Julinka pulls out a card from her pocket and puts it into a panel next to the door. She pulls it back out after a moment, and puts it back in her pocket as the door slides open on its own. She helps me into the room, and as I enter, I notice two familiar faces.

"Well, hello, Synthie!" Maya greets me. Seadney is at a desk just behind her, and doesn't seem too enthusiastic at all. She's holding her head, just hovering it over a piece of paper on which she's writing. Next to her is a cup with brown liquid in it, and next to that is a bigger glass cup holding a lot more of it.

"Care for some coffee?" Maya says.

"Is that what that is?" I ask her, and she nods in response. "I guess I'll try some." Maya offers her own cup to me.

"Try just a little bit, first," she insists. I take the cup from her (after Julinka makes sure to hold me steady) and look down at the coffee within it. I can feel its warmth as the steam rises to my face. I glance hesitantly at Maya before I start to lift it up for a sip. I tilt the cup towards my mouth and the coffee spills into my mouth. It's hot, but not too much. In fact, its warmth feels good in my mouth. Its flavor is bitter, yet refreshing. I feel refreshed and warm after just one sip.

"It's good, isn't it?" Maya asks as she takes the cup and I put my hands back on the walker.

"Yeah, I like it," I say.

"Well, I'd offer you more, but Steph will be here soon, and he doesn't want you consuming anything unhealthy."

"You mean this is bad for me?" I say, suddenly alarmed.

"Well, Steph seems to think so," Maya chuckles.

"You two are the weirdest couple..." Julinka comments.

"Watch your mouth around your parents," Scolds Maya. Julinka just looks away, looking a bit flustered. Before things get awkward, the door swings open and Steph takes a grand entrance to the room, going as far as to strike a pose.

"Today's the day!" he exclaims, "Today's the day that our success takes off! Reviving it was just the first step, ladies. Now, we can truly get started to claim our success in this field!" He pours himself a cup of coffee and continues rambling, "Yes, yes, the scientific community has been absolutely puzzled as to how we could bring back a human, but here we have one! Right in front of us, the future of science stands…" He looks up at me from his cup of coffee, and pauses for a moment.

"...Even if it needs a walker," He says somewhat under his breath, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. He takes a slow sip of coffee, and the room falls awkwardly silent. He finishes his coffee in one long sip, then puts down his empty mug, giving out a refreshed "Ahh!"

"All right, first things first!" He says, holding his previous enthusiasm, "We'll have you do some mental tests; you obviously can't do many physical activities with your current condition."

Steph quickly nudges me towards a table and I awkwardly stumble to it. Once there, I reach my hand out to pull out the chair.

"Oh, let me get that for you" Maya quickly moves over to my side and brings out the chair before I can reach it. She smiles warmly at me after I thank her, and proceeds to help me sit down in the chair.

"For your first test, you will start off with this…" says Seadney. She places a plastic container on the table. Inside are bits and pieces of something. I take out a couple and examine them. They have jagged edges which seem as if they could fit together, but after trying I see that they don't click.

"What do you want me to do with these?" I ask. Turning around, I see that they're all

intently scribbling into notebooks; very eagerly, in Steph's case. Are they writing more notes down about me? Well, they probably are, considering that they did say they're running tests on me.

"It's all right, Synth, this should be a piece of cake!" Julinka winks at me. A shush from Steph quickly silences her. This is a bit awkward. I'd better finish whatever this is quickly. I tip the container over and scatter its contents across the table, then begin trying to put them together. "Trying" is the key word here; these chip-like objects are unlike anything I recall seeing. They're strange and the components to put them together are all too alien. I can hear the intense scribbles behind me, which only makes me feel more pressured to finish this.

After a few minutes of dicking around, I manage to figure out what I'm supposed to do. The goal of this test seems to be to put together a picture out of these chips, which are simply fragments of the whole image. Once I know what to do, the puzzle gets easier. Tedious, yes, but still much easier. Eventually, the image becomes more whole and the pile of unfit pieces becomes smaller, until at last, I've completed the puzzle.

"I guess that wasn't so hard…" I look over my work to admire the image that I've pieced together. It's the duo that I'd seen on the TV set before, right after I had woken up for the second time. They must be celebrities or something if their faces are plastered onto things like this.

As I reach for my walker, I feel a hand on my shoulder keeping me grounded. I look over to see Julinka shrug and give off a face that just says "sorry!"

"How long did he take?" Steph turns to Seadney.

"Subject took Twenty-Seven minutes and Thirteen seconds to complete One-Star puzzle," States Seadney.

Just about half an hour? It felt longer than that to me. Suddenly, Julinka clears the table.

"Next," Says Stephen, and with a snap of his fingers, another small plastic container is placed on the table.

"Erm… Before we start, how long will I be doing this?" I ask Steph.

"That was one out of five, for today. Considering how you did the last one, it should probably take a couple hours for you to finish today's puzzles," He responds.

"...and after that?"

"Other mental tests, including recognising patterns and colours, as well as a few to test your memory. Once you get into better shape, we'll start with some minor physical tests, as well."

I lean back and sigh in exhaustion. The day hasn't even started, and I already feel overwhelmed. This could be a long day… Come to think of it, how long will I be testing in general?

Ch. II Author's Notes:

Toxink: Oof, sorry this one took so long to crank out. Chapter I was actually a lot faster to write than this one (Just a couple weeks, IIRC), mostly because we were actually focusing on it. This one took a while due to busy schedules and shitty moods and blah, blah, blah (insert more excuses here). As far as quality goes, I personally like the first chapter better, since it was done mostly all at once, so it just feels more coherent for me to read. Although, a lot more does happen in this chapter, and if I'm honest, the pacing seems a bit rushed.

Anyway, the project isn't dead, it just took way too long to write 5 ½ pages of content. Will the next one be in one month? Don't know. Will the releases all be monthly? Eh, maybe. I hope to actually do a better job at working on the next chapter, and if the releases do become monthly, I hope we can use that to take our time and polish it, rather than writing sporadically over short, spread-out periods of time, because god damn, writing this one was tedious.

Also, as for the style of writing the chapters in two parts, I talked it over with Cans, and I'd prefer writing just one solid part for each chapter and only focusing on the perspective of the character, rather than switching between the perspectives of the scientists and Synthesis (I actually don't do jack shit to contribute with the parts focusing on the scientists' PoV, and I just skip it altogether because it just disrupts the story for me). We're still smoothing it out, so whatever happens, happens. Cans and I have a few creative differences in my opinion, so planning out the story is a bit tedious.

Hi Im cans. If ya liked the story leave a review, and if ya really liked it, maybe give some tips from where we could improve? See ya next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

I sigh in exhaustion after yet another long day of testing. How long have I been doing this? Weeks? Months? Honestly, it's all been a blur. The only way I can find any semblance of peace is by talking to Maya; she seems to be the only sane person who cares about my well-being. The scientists have been testing my mental skills for so long, and ever since I've gotten in better shape, my body has been vigorously tested as well. Steph has told me that some of my memory should be back by now, but I still don't have a single memory from my past life. Julinka and Maya are always pampering me, and they never give me a chance to be alone. Steph, on the other hand, is insistent on keeping me under strict rules. Ever since he moved me to a new room (With an actual bed and bookshelf and drawer to store the clothes that Maya buys for me), he's been very strict on making sure that I never go outside of it, unless one of the scientists are there to accompany me.

Seadney, however, is an entirely different story. She never talks or interacts with me. Hell, she never even looks at me. All she does is write down notes, take calculations, and basically just take over any work that doesn't involve interacting with me. The juxtaposition of personalities between her and the others is something remarkable. She's practically a robot; she'll finish her duties, only to find more work. The only time she shows some, if any, resemblance of emotion is when she's near the other three. I wonder if she's related to them; most likely to Steph, if anyone at all.

I've found out that there are troves of other people here, too, in the labyrinth of hallways and doors outside my room. They've tried talking to me at times, but I really couldn't understand them at all in the past, since their speech seemed like a gargled mess. Fortunately, Maya and Juli have been teaching me how to read and write in their language, and I've learned enough to get the gist of what some people are saying to me, or more accurately, what they are saying about me. After learning a bit of the language, I can figure that most people actually see me as an animal. They call me cute a lot, but they refer to me as "it," just like Steph does.

I'm not entirely sure what these people are doing here, but I do know that they're scientists, just like my caretakers. Whenever I ask Maya about the other scientists, she just tells me not to listen to what they say, and Juli doesn't know a thing about them, since she doesn't really like to talk to anyone outside her own age (pretty weird, considering that she's far above anyone her age when it comes to intelligence, but Maya tells me that it's just Julinka being a teenager). I daren't ask Steph, and Seadney… well, talking to Seadney about anything at all is out of the question, considering that she practically never opens her mouth. I imagine she wouldn't have anything to say.

As my thoughts flow through the events of the past few months, my trance is suddenly broken by a knock at the door.

"Er- Who is it?" I ask, caught off-guard.

"It's, uh… it's me, Steph," a voice on the other side responds, "Can I, uh… come in?"

This is odd. Steph never asks me if he can come in. On the rare occasion that he comes into my room, he just bursts in and introduces himself. I really wouldn't like to be bothered by him, but I give him the answer I know he wants:

"Uh, yeah, that's fine."

The door is pushed open, and Steph slowly strolls in, acting similarly to how Juli acts whenever she knows she's in trouble. It's out of character for him, really. He coughs a few times and makes some awkward eye contact as he speaks to me.

"So, Maya- Er, no, my wife… Um..." Steph shakes his head suddenly, "Whatever. She said that we need to do some, uh… bonding."

"Bonding?"

"Yeah, you know, she uh… She said something about me treating you like some animal over the past few months, and… I dunno, she just wants me to get to know you better." I hear him muttering something under his breath afterward, but I don't exactly catch his words. I don't bother to ask him to repeat himself, either. Steph continues, "I mean… do you really care?"

"About what?"

"Well, you know, me treating you like you're not worth much, or whatever."

This isn't a sentence that I'd ever expect to come out of Steph's mouth. I hesitate to respond, taken aback in shock. Steph doesn't look too eager for a response, and the air in the room is very awkward. I fumble for a response, but Steph speaks up again before I can think of anything to say.

"You know what, how about I take you for a walk? It should clear the tension here," he says. I nod in response and follow him out the door as he holds it for me. We walk into the hallway, and the change of pace helps me to prepare myself for conversation.

"So, as I was saying..." Steph starts.

"Right," I say, perhaps a bit too soon, "How I feel being held here-"

"'Being held here?'" Steph echoes, "You make that sound like this is a prison."

"Well, it sort of feels like one, in a sense," I retort, and Steph is silent for a while.

"Well, go on," he says suddenly after his pause, and I continue.

"I don't feel like I've had much freedom at all here, really. I wake up, eat, test, eat again, test again, eat again, then sleep, only to wake up the next morning and have to repeat it over again. What makes it worse is that, even though you say my memory will come back, it hasn't. Not in the slightest. And that just makes me feel like this facility is all I've ever known. Sometimes I feel like I had no past at all, and it's scaring me. I feel like I have no real past, and lately I think this is all I've known and all I ever will know..." I continue for quite some time as we keep walking. Steph is dead silent as I explain how I've felt, and only stops me when I have to catch my breath from so much talking.

"That's enough, kid," he says sternly, "I think I get it now."

"Kid," he calls me. It isn't a nickname that I figure most people would be satisfied with, but just hearing it from Steph makes me feel much better.

"Before, I… well, it's not exactly like I ever thought of you as an animal," he admits, "But I didn't think you had a brain as advanced as ours."

I'm silent for some time before I reply, "Is that what this is all about?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're starting to think that my brain isn't really as dumb as you thought before."

"Well..." Steph scratches the back of his neck, "...I'll be honest, I doubted your intelligence when I was first introduced to you. I had studied humans in the past, and I really just saw them as hairier, dumber bipeds."

"I'm sorry," I interrupt him, "But you've been documenting my intelligence for… I dunno, a really long time. You just now decided that I'm not as dumb as you thought?"

Steph stops walking for a moment, and starts to chuckle.

"What?"

"You know… I'm really sorry to say this," Stephan says as he starts walking again, "But I never actually looked at your test results, so I'd never have known."

"You what?" I reply, astonished.

"Seadney keeps them under strict lock and key. She never tells me a single thing about the results; I just have to observe the experiments."

"But aren't you in charge of all this?"

"Me? Oh! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Steph's chuckle turns into a boisterous laugh, "Ah, no, I wish. Seadney's the one who's in charge of everything here. I'm more of a figurehead, really. Her second-hand man, so to speak."

This is definitely news to me. The whole time, I thought that Seadney was just there to write down the data, and no more. The fact that she actually was the head of it all is all too surprising.

"Ahh, even if I could, I wouldn't really want to lead this."

"Really?" I say, raising a brow.

"Yeah, I don't see myself as the decision-making type. I'd rather just enforce the rules and make sure everything goes according to plan."

"Plan? What plan?"

Steph reaches over and ruffles my hair, "Wouldn't you like to Know? Ha-ha!"

"No, seriously!" I knock his hand off of my head, "I've been here for fucking months! I don't even know if it's been months, maybe it's been years! Why am I still here? Is my life just going to be wasted here?"

Steph is silent for a while. He finally speaks after half a minute, "So you're serious."

I don't reply. I don't see a need to. He's silent for another minute before speaking again, "Well, we're planning to reveal you to the public in about six months or so..."

"...and how many months have I been here by now?"

"Do you want the comforting answer or the truth?"

"Give it to me straight."

"One year."

I'm silent for a while. I'm not mad. I'm not sad. I'm not happy. I'm just absorbing this. The testing has gone on for a year. One seemingly endless year of puzzles and exercise, and it wasn't until now when anyone decided to tell me how long I've been here. And of all people to tell me, it's the one scientist who I just can't stand.

I look up at Steph for a moment. I study his face as I think about all the times he treated me like nothing but an experiment. Seeing me like an animal. Yet here we are, having a conversation like two men standing side-by-side. After a year of testing, I've finally opened up to him, and he's opening up himself in return. Is he really still worthy of my hatred?

"Steph..." I start.

"What's up?"

"Over the past year of testing, you've pissed me right the fuck off."

"Woah there, you're not sugarcoating anything."

"I've seen you as a huge dick for the past twelve fucking months."

"Okay, now you're just swearing for no reason," Steph comments, but I ignore him.

"Do you know that for the longest time, I've wanted to punch you right in your smug, round face?"

Steph doesn't comment on that remark.

"Do you?" I reiterate.

"I see why you would," He finally says, "Is that something you intend to do right now?"

I look at him in anger, but the face he gives me in return is neutral, yet relaxed. We stare at each other for a while before I sigh and turn to face forward.

"I guess not," I reply. I mean it, too.

"Not the response I was expecting," Steph admits, "But all right."

"Are you saying that I have some sort of aggressive nature?"

"Okay, kid, now you're just making assumptions here," Steph says a bit coldly, "I'd say you're probably projecting some of your anger towards me."

He's right. I hate to admit it to myself, but he's completely right.

"It's because you're stuck here, isn't it?" He asks me. I don't reply, but he responds anyway, "Yeah, your silence answers it for me."

We walk in silence for a while before Steph suddenly stops.

"Here we are," he says.

I stop and turn to him, then see that he's gesturing towards my room.

"It was, uh… Nice having this conversation with you, Synthesis," Steph says as he opens the door for me.

"I guess..." I walk past him and through the doorway, entering my room.

As Steph disappears into the hallway, I suddenly feel that something isn't right. It's as if I could feel someone or something lurking in the darkness of my room. I hear a silent pattern of hushed noises, as if someone is whispering something. Is someone in my room?

"Wh-who's there?" I call out. No answer. My hand flies toward the light switch, and I'm blinded for just a fraction of a second before I can clearly see. For only a moment, just under a second, I see that the room is devoid of any intruders. All in a second, I almost have a heart attack as three figures jump out from behind the furniture of my room.

"SURPRISE!" They all ring out.

I stumble backwards and land on my rear as my caretakers make themselves known.

"Uhh…" I'm dumbfounded. Really, I don't know what to think. "...Is this another test?"

"Hiya, Synth!" Maya says as she helps me up. "This is something much better than a test!"

"Much, much better," Juli chirps as she grabs my other arm and pulls me into the room, "Wow, Synth, you're really shaking like a leaf, did we scare you that much?"

"Kind of… what are you three doing in here, anyway? If this isn't another evaluation then what is it?"

"Well, we thought it was time you had a little break, annnnnnnd you've been with us for some time now so we've decided to celebrate your birthday" Juli said, a grin forming on her face

My birthday? I don't really remember my birthday, let alone how to celebrate one… I think you're supposed to have your friend's and family be there with you. It's funny really, I have no idea how a person can miss someone they've never met…

"Synth? Earth to Synth? Are you ok?" Juli snapped her fingers a few times a few inches away from my face.

"Huh? Whazzat?" I blurted out

"You were deep in thought, you were making a strange face. It was quite fascinating really." Seadney said making herself known, geez she just blends into the background when she doesn't say anything.

"Is there something wrong Synth? You didn't look so well…"

"Was my face really that weird?"

"A tad bit yes. Like a newborns." Maya peeped out

I stood there for a few seconds recoiling from embarrassment, but then hit me, I didn't even know how to celebrate a birthday. I had the friends part down but I didn't have any family present… or any at all, but I still didn't know what to do even if they weren't gone.

"So uhm, how does one celebrate a birthday? Do we have to solve puzzles?"

There was silence followed by deadpan expressions for a couple of moments, with the three of them just staring straight at me. I didn't like it when people stared at me like that, it makes me nervous.

"You mean to tell me… that you don't even know…?" Juli said dejectedly

"Know what exactly? What am i supposed to know?

"Wow I can't believe he has no idea." Maya added

"Tell me already!" I said slightly annoyed

"About the cake!" Juli and Maya both said simultaneously, motioning to a giant but proportionally correct cake that Seadney had unmasked, how did I not notice that when coming in…? Geez, you'd think that they had rehearsed this or something.

"You big dummy, how could you forget something so important?" Juli said pouting

"I don't know… I've been forgetting a lot of important things lately…" It's true, ever since I woke up it's all been a blur, why do I keep getting reminded of this?

"Oh right… sorry about that, I didn't mean to offend you…" Juli face palmed

Once again the room was filled with silence "It's fine, but more importantly, is that cake for me? I love cake! I think."

A big smile slowly formed on her face, grinning wide and teeth showing, she happily nodded and led me by hand towards the birthday dessert.

Maya suddenly burst out "I'll do the cake cutting! You three just sit down and leave it to me" She then proceeded to cut the cake but was stopped by Seadney as she was preparing her first slice.

"No, I'll cut the cake-" Gasps were heard in the room as Synth and his caretaker Juli both stood in awe, she hadn't said much until now and it clearly had shocked them.

"Uhh, not to be rude but where are we gonna sit? I don't really want to eat cake on my bed or make a mess of things"

"Synth, we aren't eating on your bed, we brought in a table and everything." Juli said as she gestured her hands in the direction of the now… conveniently placed table.

"Why do I keep not noticing these things, I swear its like you guys are magic. Oh well, lets eat some cake!" I huffed.

As Seadney pried away the cake cutter, Maya attempted to stand her ground but slowly lost her grip "Oh come on, why can't I do it? I practically planned this whole thing!"

"Nonsense, you cut very sloppily and your portion sizes are to small."

"Tch, fine. You can have your cake cutter, but I want double the amount of cake!"

Standing there, I seriously wondered how someone like her ever became a scientist, let alone marry someone like Steph. I just can't see it happening, Steph's serious personality and Maya playful compassionate one. Love must work in mysterious ways. But enough of that, I want CAKE. Walking over to the now prepared cake and dramatically sobbing Maya, I grabbed a plate and greedily offered it. A large slice of cake hit my plate, this would do well.

I retreated to the table and sat down, grabbing a piece with my hand I eagerly stuffed my face. It was a strange taste, spongy yet hard. Munching on said piece made what felt like cream ooze out of it.

"Wow… Synth you must really like that cake… Didn't even wait to get a fork, for shame." She nodded her head dejectedly

"Is there a problem?" I muttered with a mouth full of cake stuffing.

"No… just here…" she had handed me a fork, but alas it was to late. The cake had been slain, and my stomach sated.

Everyone started laughing, except for Seadney of course, she gave a few smiles here and there. "What now? Am i making another weird face or something?

"No, your lips silly" Maya said between giggles

I hastily grabbed my mouth to see what was wrong, it was just cream from the cake. Phew, I was almost worried there, I started laughing at how dumb it was, so I joined them in laughter. For the next few hours all we did was solve puzzles together and chat about small and trivial things. Some things never change, eventually they got tired and left one by one, wishing me a good night and a happy birthday. Eventually though, it was just juli and me.

"So did ya have fun Synth?"

"Huh of course I did, I had troves of fun today, this was one of the most liveliest days of my life.

"Then what's the matter? I can tell when your feeling down ya know" Juli said leaning in close.

"Its.. it's nothing really… I was just wondering, what's it like out there outside of this place? I've been dying to know what it's like, you all said I would be able to leave soon right?"

She started giggling again when I asked this, what's up with this girl? She nodded slowly "Yup, we're going to present you to a lot of people, I won't spoil anything about the surface, I want you to be able experience that for yourself"

"Oh… so how many people are gonna be there? Not that many right? I seriously don't think I can deal with that many people" I nervously rubbed my arm reflexively "So like around maybe around twenty or thirty people right?

"Not at all, there actually might be around several hundred people who will be present. You can bet that most them will just want to see the human though. Only a small few will truly appreciate all the hard work that it took to bring you back…" She had said that last part with a certain gleam in her eye, and that scared me enough to make me flinch.

"Well, it's been fun Synth, but a girl's gotta get her beauty sleep ya know? G'night. I'll see ya tomorrow" Stretching her arms wide and into the air she stood up and made her way to the door. "Oh and I almost forgot one thing, come here Synth"

"Huh, what is it, what'd you forget?" I asked curiously while walking towards her.

"Not much, just this one thing." Lunging towards me and enveloping me in a small hug much like her mother, even surprising me enough that I let out a small yelp. "Happy birthday Synth" And with that she released me and headed out the door, I was filled with strange feelings when she did that, as if there was something fluttering in my stomach. Not at all like when Maya did it, I just couldn't understand this confusing feeling.

Readying my bed and fluffing my pillow, I couldn't help but remember Juli's words, of the surface, of how many people will be there to greet me when I was finally free from this cage, well it wasn't all that bad. I'm happy here after all.

While In the corner of the room, a camera was watching Synthesis as he prepared to sleep, it zoomed in and out as if to document what it was watching. In another room however, Steph who was watching a screen, had been watching everything from start to finish. His disappointment at being left out was visible as the camera feed on the screen.

'Damn it.. how could they not invite me to the party? I'm as much of apart of this too as they are… that woman better have saved me some cake…' thought the annoyed and slightly saddened Steph.

 **So sorry for the late update guys, I was just nervous to finish this, ah well its up now. Remember to leave a comment about your thoughts on the chapter. And if you have tips on where i need to work on my writing please let me know.**


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